The present invention relates generally to an aircraft sleeper seat, and more particularly to an aircraft sleeper seat that is alternately operational as a standard aircraft seat.
Aircraft interiors have often been influenced as much by economic factors as they have been by engineering concerns. Weight savings for individual components affect not only aircraft performance but profitability as well. In this light, considerable effort has been expended in attempts to limit aircraft weight and improve efficiency. Working in conjunction with weight and efficiency, passenger occupancy has also played a significant role in aircraft economic factors. Increased passenger occupancy capacities have been one approach toward increasing airline economic efficiency.
Increased passenger occupancy allows airlines to sell a greater number of individual tickets for a given flight. Profits are thereby increased, while the increase in flight overhead related to the additional passengers is only minimally impacted. Unfortunately, the increase in passenger occupancy has resulted in restrictive seating arrangements as perceived by many passengers. As the number of passengers and passenger seating has been increased within aircraft, the amount of individual space allocated to each passenger has been respectively diminished. Comfort adjustments such as seat reclining are often extremely limited and often ineffectual. Luxuries such as sleeper seating has been all-but extinguished from coach seating. Cost concerns have thereby directly impacted passenger comfort and convenience.
Although in many cases the impact on passenger comfort has been viewed as an acceptable cost of operation, the loss of customer satisfaction and the increase of passenger irritability and discomfort should not be ignored. Air travel can be inherently stressful many passengers. Often larger passengers find the reduced personal space on modern aircraft to further increase their stress and discomfort levels. On many flights, multiple seats are often not filled and remain empty. These unsold seats represent a loss of valuable space that could be utilized to increase customer comfort. In addition, these unsold seats represent lost revenue for the airline. It would represent a real value to the airlines if revenue could be derived from these unused seats. If such increased revenue could be combined with increased customer satisfaction and comfort, the airline could benefit doubly. It would therefore be highly desirable to have an airline seat that could function both as a traditional seat as well as a sleeper seat when used in conjunction with a neighboring seat. This would allow for additional comfort and possible revenue if the use of the sleeper seat could be marketed to passengers at an additional cost.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an aircraft seat capable of providing traditional passenger seating in addition to alternately providing sleeper seating to adjoining passengers when not in use. It is a further object of the present invention to provide an aircraft seat that can provide potential revenue for airlines when not sold as a traditional seat by providing marketable value as an upgrade to adjoining passengers.
In accordance with the objects of the present invention, an aircraft seat assembly is provided. The aircraft seat assembly includes a first aircraft seat element, having a first seat portion and a first back portion. The first back portion includes a lower back portion and an upper back portion. The lower back portion is rotatable between a raised position, wherein the lower back portion is tangential with the upper back portion to form a contiguous back rest, and a lowered position, wherein the lower back portion is tangential with the first seat portion to form an extended horizontal sleeping platform.